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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The 2012 Canada-Russia Challenge is coming up and members
of Team Canada will head to Toronto on Thursday to prepare for the event. The
team will practice on Friday at the MasterCard Centre.

Saint John Sea Dogs captain Jonathan Huberdeau will be
playing for Team Canada. Other QMJHL players include Charles Hudon, Xavier
Ouellet, Phillip Danault, and Maxime Lagace.

The Canada-Russia Challenge will replace Team Canada’s
usual summer evaluation camp. There will be four games with the first two in
Russia on Aug. 9 and 10 and the final two in Halifax on Aug. 13 and 14. Tickets
are still available for the Halifax games.

“It was a great organization; they have great coaching so
it was great to be there,” recalled Huberdeau. “They knew what you had to do to
prepare for the NHL, which was great. All my teammates, we had a lot of fun
together, it was just great to be there.”

“His hands are incredible, allowing him to maneuver the
puck between defenders with ease but it’s his vision and creativity that makes
him such an offensive wizard,” writes Adam Stafki. “Too put it simply, he is a
playmaker in its purest form.”

And in other Panther news, they were ranked first in ESPN's organizational rankings again.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Beautiful handcrafted Saint John Sea Dogs walking stick
for sale. Various hockey themed woodburnings etched into the length of the
stick, team logo, Presidents Cup and Memorial Cup victory years and leather
lanyard. A one-of-a-kind souvenir of the Sea Dogs! Delivery available in the
Saint John area.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

A few weeks ago the Michael Paliotta rumour mill started up again after having a few months off. There were rumours back in the winter
that the University of Vermont defenseman might jump ship and join the Saint
John Sea Dogs. Those rumours proved not to be true and it doesn’t appear this
summer’s report will come true either.

"For me, it doesn't really suit my game very
much," he said. "I'm really happy with how things are going at
Vermont. There's rumors every couple months that I'm possibly considering going
there, but that's all it is, a rumor. I haven't even been in contact with them
personally, and I'm not intending to go there. I'll be back at Vermont in
September."

Paliotta also said that getting an education is important
to his family. He is majoring in business at Vermont.

"Obviously, I'm getting a really good education at
Vermont," he said. "I love my teammates up at school."

So, there you go. This should shoot down rumours for a
few weeks at least.

The d-man is on the world junior radar. He'll be attending Team USA's evaluation camp in August.

Paliotta was selected by the Sea Dogs in the 10th round,
180th overall in the 2010 QMJHL Entry Draft.

The Westport, Connecticut native registered four goals and six
assists in 30 games with the Vermont Catamounts last season. Vermont finished
last in the Hockey East conference with a record of 3-23-1 and an overall
record of 6-27-1.

“Breaking the Memorial Cup was an accident,” tweeted the Colorado
Avalanche prospect. “I picked it up lost my balance and dropped it, there was
no intention to break it, I'm sorry.”

According to Le Nouvelliste’s Steve Turcotte, Donnelly
will have to pay to have the trophy fixed, write an apology to the three
Canadian Hockey League commissioners and his teammates, and has been suspended by the team until
September 3. Yikes.

The most unfortunate part of this saga is that several
members of the championship team will not be able to have their day with the
Cup. The Canadian Press reports that it is off to Toronto for repairs.

As Buzzing The Net points out, Vincent Arseneau voiced
his displeasure about the damage on his Facebook page. Arseneau was scheduled
to have the Memorial Cup on August 6.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Detroit Red Wings still haven’t been able to sign
Tomas Jurco because of a lack of transfer agreement between the International
Ice Hockey Federation and Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. Jurco expects to be
playing in the American Hockey League this season.

"I'm expecting myself to play in Grand Rapids this
year," he told the Detroit Free Press. "I'll do my best, obviously.
I'm going to try to get used to playing men hockey. I hope it won't be problem
for me. Maybe I'll get a chance for a couple (NHL) games this year, maybe next
year."

In the article published on Sunday, the Free Press also
notes that Jurco is still feeling some pain from shoulder injuries he suffered
during the Sea Dogs playoff run.

“The 6-foot-2 defender brings ample amount of talent to
the Habs’ blue line,” writes Bradey Williston. “He is known for his quick feet,
confidence, puck moving ability and most importantly his leadership. Beaulieu
has A reputation for his determination and has no problem lifting the team up
on his shoulder in tight game situations. He loves the offensive side of the
game and is a natural power-play quarterback.”

“Jonathan Huberdeau is without a doubt the Cats’ top
prospect as it stands right now,” writes Kris Eberwein. “Hubby is a centerman
and has an amazing eye for the net. In the 2010-11 season with the Saint John
Sea Dogs of the QMJHL Hubby put up an astounding 105 points in just 67 games.
Granted, he put up these numbers in Juniors but there’s no doubt that this kind
of skill will translate nicely to the NHL.”

Grant is coming off one of the best seasons of his
career. He recorded 10 goals and 27 assists in 61 regular season games with the
American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He added another seven
points in 12 playoff matches.

The first overall pick in the 2005 QMJHL Entry Draft
spent three-and-a-half seasons in Saint John from 2005-2009.

"The Memorial Cup was donated in 1919 to honour
Canada's war fallen," said Courteau. "It is unfortunate and
deplorable to see it in such a state. The damages that were caused will be
billed to the team."

Like the Sea Dogs did last year, the Cataractes have been giving the trophy to each player on the team for 24 hours.
The Memorial Cup also got banged up touring with the Dogs last year and
probably has many, many other times but the media has just never picked up on
it like this.

A lot of people are really overreacting to this. The Cup
broke. It will be fixed. It will probably be break again. We highly doubt players intentionally tried to bust this thing.

According to the CP, the trophy won’t make a public appearance
until September 21 when the Cataractes hold their home opener. Saying that the
2012 Memorial Cup has been eventful, bizarre, and controversial would be an
understatement.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Former Sea Dogs defenseman Eric Gelinas is taking part in
New Jersey Devils rookie camp this week. The camp began on Monday.

“The objective of this is to give an orientation as to
what the philosophy is of the organization,” Devils’ President/CEO/GM Lou
Lamoriello told the Devils website. “We had a meeting last night and we talked
about a lot of things A to Z, as far as getting accustomed to the trainers,
getting accustomed to the locker room, getting accustomed to everything that we
do.”

Former Saint John Sea Dogs goaltender Marco Cousineau
will be staying in the Anaheim Ducks system for at least another season.

The Ducks announced Monday that Cousineau had signed a one-year deal (accepted qualifying offer) to remain with the club. Per
team policy, no financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

Cousineau had an eventful 2011-12 campaign, spending time
in the Central Hockey League, American Hockey League, and East Coast Hockey
League. In the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch he went 3-2-0 with a 3.32 goals
against average and a 0.904 save percentage. In the ECHL with the Elmira
Jackals he went 0-1-0 with a 4.08 GAA and a 0.879 SV%. Lastly, in the CHL with
the Allen Americans he went 16-4-4 with a 2.53 GAA and a 0.918 SV%.

In 2010-11, Cousineau’s first pro season, he went 21-16-5
with a 3.23 GAA and a 0.898 SV% while playing with the Jackals.

The 22-year old was selected by the Ducks in the third
round of the 2008 National Hockey League Draft.

The Sea Dogs acquired Cousineau during the 2009-2010 holiday
trading period from the PEI Rocket. He helped the team reach the President’s
Cup final for the first time in team history, a final that saw the SEa Dogs fall in six games to the Moncton Wildcats. He had a 15-5-0 record with Saint
John in the second half of the regular season and produced a 2.36 GAA and a
0.914 SV%. He went 14-7 with a 2.80 GAA and a .911 SV% in the playoffs.

At Minnesota Wild development camp, there was a scrimmage
held on Thursday night at the Xcel Energy Center. Charlie Coyle played with
Raphael Bussieres and Johan Larson on Team White while Zack Phillips played
with Brett Bulmer and Marshal Everson on Team Green.

Charlie Coyle scored to give Team White a 4-3
lead in the second half. Team White would later tie it and win the shootout. Here
are the highlights.

"I just found some open space and he made a nice
play to put it right on my tape," Coyle told the Wild website. "I
almost bobbled it, but it was a nice play by him, a great look."

“This kid has hands,” writes dancchan about Phillips. “I could argue his
hands are as talented as Granlund's. Too bad his skating is still quite
average, but this kid is very creative and has a good package of offensive
talents. Could he be a more dynamic version of Andrew Brunette?”

There were rumours last December that Paliotta, along with
Vermont teammate Connor Brickley, would leave the University of Vermont to join
the Sea Dogs. The university instantly denied those reports. Neither would go on to join the Sea Dogs.

“Even if they have some interest, I think it's unlikely
Paliotta goes,” Meloni added. “Think he would've went last year if he really
wanted to. Even if UVM struggles again, Chicago has let a lot of guys stay in
school. Can't think of any Blackhawks picks who left NCAA for CHL.”

Things have certainly changed in Saint John since
December. They have a new head coach and a new core of players. If ice time was
ever an issue Paliotta, a third round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in the
2011 NHL Draft, would get plenty this year with the rebuilding Dogs.

I certainly wouldn't go out and buy a Paliotta Sea Dogs jersey just yet. It makes sense that Saint John's interest has re-emerged because they have plenty of holes to fill in their lineup and we all know Mike Kelly is always working at landing impact players. It's just common sense that the Dogs would be inquiring to see if he wanted to make the shift to junior.

The defenseman from Westport, Connecticut registered four
goals and six assists in 30 games with the Vermont Catamounts last season. Vermont finished last in the Hockey East conference with a record of 3-23-1 and an overall record of 6-27-1.

Paliotta was selected by the Sea Dogs in the 10th round,
180th overall in the 2010 QMJHL Entry Draft.

First of all, Saint John’s first pre-season contest will
be held on Friday, August 17 against the PEI Rocket. Instead of Harbour
Station, this game will be played at the qplex in Quispamsis. It’s the second
straight season that the Sea Dogs have played at the beautiful facitlity.

The other change is Saint John’s final game of exhibition
action. According to the Sea Dogs release, that game will now be played on
Sunday, September 16 at 4pm at Harbour Station. That change hasn’t been made on the league website, though.

From the team release:

Tickets for the pre-season game in Quispamsis will go on
sale at 9 a.m. on Monday, July 30.
Reserved seating and standing room tickets, priced at $10, will be
available at the qplex administration office or by calling 848-5900. Tickets for the Sea Dogs two pre-season games
at Harbour Station will go on sale at the Harbour Station box office on Monday,
August 7, beginning at 10 a.m. These
tickets will be $9 each.

The Sea Dogs will play seven pre-season games this year.
Here is the full schedule.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

“The Panthers system is headlined by stud prospect
Jonathan Huberdeau, but it goes on way beyond him,” writes Cory Pronman. “Florida
has accumulated not only depth, but talented depth. I felt the top four systems
were somewhat interchangeable, but the fact that Florida has so many good
prospects and a few high-end ones put them over the top for me.”

Five of the top 10 teams all had prospects playing on the
Sea Dogs last year.

The Philadelphia Flyers were ranked last.

SAAB

As reported by Ian Saab himself on Twitter, Ian Saab is
off to Europe. He’s headed to Austria where he will join EC Red Bull Salzburg.

“Ian Saab is also hoping that his ambitious style will
win him a place on the Red Bulls' 1st division team, but to begin with he is
only entitled to play on the farm team,” states the team’s website.

As Matthew Wuest notes, former Halifax Mooseheads Sawyer
Hannay and Alexandre Grenier have both joined the same team. Both Hannay and
Grenier were drafted by the Canucks while Saab attended Vancouver rookie camp
last year.

Saab was eligible to return to Saint John as a 20-year old this season but was not guaranteed a roster spot.

YATES

The Post-Standard has an article on the Sea Dogs’ newest assistant
coach, Ross Yates. He is a former head coach of the American Hockey League’s Syracuse
Crunch but was not brought back after the 2009-10 season.

"I'm going to try it out for a year. It's the one
league I've never worked in,'' Yates told the newspaper. "I've never had
anything to do with juniors, so I'm looking forward to the experience. There
will be a little adjustment, for sure. Most of the guys who came to us in
Syracuse came right out of juniors. I pretty much know that stage of
development. I think that will be an advantage for me.''

Yates says he has had plenty of job offers over the past
two years but couldn’t find the right fit.

HOUSER

London Knights goaltender Michael Houser, who backstopped
the OHL champs to a round-robin victory over the Sea Dogs at May’s Memorial Cup,
was recently signed by Jonathan Huberdeau’s Florida Panthers. The two had a
laugh at Panthers development camp last week.

"He scored on me in one of the scrimmages and after,
he told me he was thinking about shooting it from outside the blue-line like he
did (when he scored on the Knights at the Memorial Cup in Shawinigan), so that
was pretty funny," Houser told the London Free Press.

“I can see (Despres) as a big-bodied guy that can defend.
Putting him next to Kris (Letang), you see a formidable pair,” Penguins head
coach Dan Bylsma told the Pens website. “Both can defend, but also have the
ability to make a pass and make a play. It’s an intriguing matchup. You see a young
guy paired with a guy who was a young guy, who is now mature and at a different
point in his game. They’ve had similar paths. Simon is a couple years behind
Kris and can lean on that. You see that in the pairing.”

“Simon is a highly talented player. He got great
experience last year, coming into rookie camp, in Wilkes-Barre and got to play
in the playoffs at the National Hockey League level. Those guys are knocking
right on the door,” said Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach John Hynes said, referring
to Robert Bortuzzo, Brian Strait and Despres. “They’ve proven themselves through
their experiences that they’re ready to take that next step.”

WILD

Minnesota Wild development camp is underway as well. Attendees
include Charlie Coyle and Zack Phillips.

“The attendees went through some fitness testing
yesterday and had a group outing last night before hitting the ice for the
first time today,” states the Wild website. “The drills at today’s morning
skate were eerily very similar to those that the Wild conduct during the
season.”

There will be scrimmages on Thursday and Saturday. Both will be streamed online.

There is still a buzz around the Wild with the addition of Zach Parise
and Ryan Suter.

"It's great they landed those two guys," Coyle told the Pioneer Press. "Obviously, it takes away spots on the team, but
that's best for our organization. It makes everyone work harder. It's good, all
the way around, for everyone."

RED WINGS

The Left Wing Lock had an article on Tomas Jurco the
other day. He’s not officially signed by the Detroit Red Wings yet due to the
lack of transfer agreement Slovak hockey federation and the NHL.

“The (transfer agreement) between the Slovak Federation
and the NHL expired this summer,” Jurco explained. “They have to agree to a new
one before I can officially sign. I don’t really know much about it, but they
are working on the deal and then I will sign my contract.”

Red Wings development camp goes until Friday. There is a
scrimmage being held this evening.

Matthew Highmore, the Saint John Sea Dogs’ top pick in
last month’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft, is still recovering
from shoulder surgery.

“It’s just a matter of recovery,” said Matthew’s father,
Dave Highmore, to Metro Halifax. “No question (he’ll be back) early in the
regular season. We just don’t know if it’s going to be the start of the season
or two weeks later.”

Metro’s Matthew Wuest writes that Highmore “is unlikely
to be ready for a full dose of upper-body training until mid-August.” Saint
John begins their pre-season play on Friday, August 17 against the PEI Rocket
at Harbour Station. They open the regular season at home on September 20
against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

The Sea Dogs were aware of Highmore’s
shoulder issue (EDIT: they were aware. Apologies for earlier typo). At the draft, the 16-year old from Dartmouth couldn’t shake hands with his dominant right. Obviously, the Sea Dogs don’t believe his
shoulder will cause many problems in the future.

The forward, selected eighth overall in the QMJHL Entry
Draft, registered 13 goals and 13 assists in 25 games with the Dartmouth Major
Midgets last season. He added another 11 points in 16 playoff games.

Ross Yates has been named the Saint John Sea Dogs’ newest
assistant coach.

Yates, 53, has a plethora of coaching experience, most
notably with the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch where he was behind
the bench as an assistant and head coach for 10 seasons.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to add Ross to
our staff from an outstanding group of candidates,” said Sea Dogs General
Manager and Head Coach Mike Kelly in a release.

“The development of our players is the number one
priority in Saint John and we feel Ross will definitely add to that
cause."

Prior to his coaching career, he played professionally
for several years in North America and Europe. From the Sea Dogs release:

As a player, Yates established strong roots in the
Maritimes, spending five years with Mount Allison University of then AUAA. In his final year at Mount Allison, he
recorded 72 points (16 goals and 56 assists) in just 21 regular season
games. His 56 assists in a single season
remains an Atlantic University Sport (AUS) record.

Following the 1981 AUAA season, Yates joined the
Binghamton Whalers of the AHL. In his
second full year with the Whalers in 1982-1983, Yates enjoyed a career season,
capturing the league’s top scorer award (41 goals and 84 assists for 125 total
points). He was also named the league’s
most valuable player, earned the AHL’s top sportsmanship award and was named
The Hockey News minor league player of the year.

Yates made his NHL debut with the Hartford Whalers in
1983-1984 and collected one goal and one assist in seven games before heading
overseas to continue his playing career.

This seems like a solid move. He has plenty of coaching
experience and should only benefit a team already with a quality staff.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Moncton Wildcats head coach and director of hockey
operations Danny Flynn doesn’t expect the Sea Dogs to completely fall off the
rails this season even though their lineup will look dramatically different.

"They've got a winning culture there," Flynn told Sportsnet.ca this week. "I still think they're going to be a very
competitive team. I certainly wouldn't write them off at this point. You don't
have that much winning happen inside your room and you forget how to win."

The Wildcats should have a good team this year and
hopefully won’t be as boring as the 2011-12 Wildcats. Flynn says Halifax will
be the team to beat and he is correct.

The Wildcats and Sea Dogs meet twice during the
pre-season. They meet for the first time in the regular season on Wednesday,
September 26 at Harbour Station.

Saab is eligible to return to Saint John as a 20-year old
player but, at the moment, he’s probably the fourth or fifth best overager the Sea
Dogs have.

The Sea Dogs acquired the defenseman through the Lewiston
Maineiacs (RIP) Expansion Draft last year. Saab recorded nine points in 52
regular season games and three in 12 playoff matches. He provided toughness but often got into penalty trouble.

41 players will take part in the camp. Tomas Jurco will
be one of them. The Detroit Free Press names him one of the players to watch at
this year’s camp along with Halifax’s Martin Frk.

PENGUINS

Pittsburgh Penguins development camp begins on Tuesday
and runs until Saturday, July 14 at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Former
Sea Dogs defenseman Simon Despres will be taking part once again this season.

“Despres, 20, split his first professional season between
Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL),” states the Penguins website. “He made his NHL debut on Dec. 1 at Washington and
went on to appear in 18 regular-season games for Pittsburgh, totaling four
points (1G-3A) and a plus-5 rating. The 6-foot-4, 219-pound Despres also played
in three games for the Penguins during the 2012 playoffs. Despres was voted a
starter for the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic, although he had to miss the game due
to injury.”

Friday, July 6, 2012

Capitals PR man @brguerrero tweeted that Galiev was the
first player on a fresh sheet of ice at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the team’s
practice facility and the site of this year’s development camp. The ice melted last week during the massive power outage in and around the DC area.

Development camp begins this Monday and runs until
Saturday, July 14. Our friends at Japers’ Rink will keep you up to date with
coverage and news links.

Five Hole for Food is an annual coast to coast tour
playing hockey to support food banks across Canada.

We set up a rink in the heart of each city and invite
anyone and everyone to come out to play hockey to fight hunger. Bring your
stick, bring a can of food, and have fun. 100% of the proceeds go to the local
food bank in each city.

We're playing road hockey in Saint John to benefit the
Community Food Basket of Saint John and we hope you'll join us!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Florida Panthers development camp kicked off today and
their general manager said what most of us are well aware of – Jonathan
Huberdeau has nothing left to prove at the junior hockey level.

“Two or three of our kids will be in the lineup –
Huberdeau can score,'' Panthers general manager Dale Tallon told the media, via the Miami Herald.

“Now is the time to get him to the next level. We have to
improve his overall strength, timing and get him playing with bigger, stronger
men. If he plays another year in junior, that's really not going to help his
progress.''

Huberdeau’s slim frame is the only thing holding him
back. He certainly has the skill to be at the NHL level and probably could have
played with Florida last year if he was bigger. He’d put up unlimited points if
he was returned to the Sea Dogs this year and that isn’t going to do much for
his development.

Huberdeau spoke to the media as well. Video via George
Richards of the Herald.

The Sea Dogs website – and all other team websites –
finally have their 2012-13 schedule in easy-to-read form. That can be found
here.

The Sea Dogs begin the pre-season on August 17 at home
against PEI and the regular season on September 20 at home against Bathurst.

PANTHERS CAMP

Florida Panthers development camp begins today. Of
course, Sea Dogs captain Jonathan Huberdeau, the third overall pick in last
year’s NHL Draft, will be getting plenty of attention.

Because of his age, it’s the NHL or back to Saint John
for Huberdeau next season.

“Expect last year’s No. 3 pick Jonathan Huberdeau to be
on the Panthers this season because he is just 19 and has nothing else to prove
in juniors,” writes the Sun Sentinel’s Harvey Fialkov in a blog post. “The new
cap may be $70 million but the Panthers spend to their allotted budget which
means they probably have about $20 million available but will only spend about
half that. Remember they only have about 3-4 roster spots available this year
with Tyson Strachan slated to be up with the big guys. Huberdeau takes up
another spot.”

“Huberdeau could very well be the future of the franchise
if he can keep up the pace and I fully expect to see him on the ice in South
Florida next season,” writes Kris Eberwein of Yahoo!.

“His three-year stint in major junior hockey has come to
an end but with such creative skill, not a ton of defensive wherewithal and an
international transfer agreement still to hurdle over, Jurco is nearly the
dictionary definition of a boom or bust prospect,” writes Mike Farkas. “Provided
the contract situation works itself out naturally, Jurco will ply his trade
with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins – his first taste of North American
professional hockey.”